Draft:Springvale Road

Springvale Road is an arterial road in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. The road begins at Reynolds Road as a T-junction which forms the border between Donvale and Doncaster East. The road travels in a straight southerly direction before ending as the border of Chelsea Heights/Aspendale Gardens, just after the Mornington Peninsula Freeway interchange, and turning into Edithvale Road.

The route carries heavy traffic as a 6-lane dual carriageway. Springvale Junction, the junction of Springvale Road, the Princes Highway, Police Road and Centre Road, is one of the most congested and dangerous in Melbourne, with various proposals such as grade seperating the Princes Highway, blocking off certain routes, or reducing speed limits, having been considered.

History
The road is on a line 12 miles magnetic east of the Batman's Hill datum, originally used by Robert Hoddle to survey and subdivide Melbourne. It was named after the Springvale Hotel, built in 1858.

In 1937, the Country Roads Board began improvements to the road, applying a sand surface, but much of this portion had to be reconstructed in 1952. In 1986 the process of duplicating the road was complete, having progressed in stages since 1970.

The road, along with Bell Street was declared a State Highway in 1983, and named the Bell Street/Springvale Road State Highway in 1987.

Level crossings
Springvale Road formerly had two level crossings, one at Springvale station on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, and one at Nunawading station on the Lilydale and Belgrave lines. Both stations were rebuilt to remove the level crossings, with Nunawading complete in 2010 and Springvale complete in 2014.

Register of Public Roads
Under the VicRoads Register of Public Roads, Springvale Road is part of the State (Bell/Springvale) Highway, placing the road under VicRoads' overall management and development. The State (Bell/Springvale) Highway is split into two sections, with the Metro Route 40 roads connecting them not technically part of the Highway. The north-western section contains the entirety of Bell Street and Banksia Street, and Manningham Road up to the intersection with Bulleen Road, and the south-eastern section which contains Springvale Road from the Eastlink/Eastern Freeway interchange to the Mornington Peninsula Freeway interchange. The name "State (Bell/Springvale) Highway" is unknown to drivers or the wider community, is not signed, and is only a technical designation.